Can you help to preserve our heritage?

An ambitious project to preserve the past and safeguard the future of Burnley Mechanics has won vital funding.
The Burnley Mechanics TheatreThe Burnley Mechanics Theatre
The Burnley Mechanics Theatre

A £10,000 grant from the lottery’s Resilient Heritage programme will be used to carry out the Transforming the Heritage of Burnley Mechanics project, due to start this month.It will include working with heritage specialists to conduct a condition survey of the Grade II listed theatre and explore options and opportunities for future conservation work.The project will also focus on sharing the history and heritage of the building with Burnley Mechanics partners through a set of organised workshops.Helen Jones, head of cultural services at Burnley Leisure, said: “Burnley Mechanics has always been at the centre of the community, providing space for creative projects, events and entertainment to people of all ages.“We are now looking for new ways of how we could utilise this historic building even better and the project will help inform us of options available in the future.”Burnley Mechanics has also teamed up with the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), which will stage a three-day business competition for its students to help support the project.Both the event and the project will help inform a further application to Heritage Lottery Fund.Members of the public are invited to get involved by sending in any memories or photos they have of the Mechanics in the past, dated if possible.All stories and photographs collected will be used to help document the history of the building for a heritage report. They will also feature on the Mechanics website and within the building.People can send their photos via post, call into the box office or share them on the Mechanics Facebook page.Designed by architect James Green of Todmorden, Burnley Mechanics opened its doors in 1855 as a shining example of the Mechanics Movement.Last year the Mechanics was named Cultural Venue of the Year at Lancashire Tourism Awards.

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